what's in a name?

Mildred Elizabeth Beckley was my great grandmother on my mom's side. Since I was a child there has been this old photograph hanging in the hallway at my parents' house of Mildred as a young girl. My mom had typed up her full name on one of those label makers and put it under her photograph which forever ingrained her and her name on my memory. I look at that photo and I wonder what she was like. What did she enjoy doing? What did her voice sound like? Was that her favorite dress? What did she do the rest of this day-after this moment frozen in time?


I chose her name because to me it represents not only the history of my own family, but like the photograph, it hints at the beautiful mystery of old things. Where have they been? What have they seen? Incorporating something old into something new is like adding their rich narrative to my own. It feels like giving the past a future.